Facebook Sued For Falsifying ‘Likes’

The world’s biggest social network just can’t seem to catch a break. Only recently a lawsuit was filed against the company alleging that it intercepted users’ private messages without them knowing. It now has yet another claim to defend, filed by lawyers in the San Jose division of Northern District Court of California for a Colorado resident called Anthony Ditirro, the claim alleges that Facebook falsified his endorsement or “like” in a USA Today sponsored advertisement shown to at least one of his friends on the social network, despite that he had never liked USA Today on Facebook.

It is claimed that Ditirro never visited USA Today’s website or liked the newspaper’s page on Facebook, yet his likeness was used to “advertise to the general public” that he endorsed USA Today. The lawsuit is seeking class action status, alleging that Facebook has broken a few civil and business codes of California and owes at least $750 in statutory and punitive damages to members of the suit for unauthorized use of their likeness. The lawsuit has been filed on behalf of all U.S. Facebook users whose endorsement was falsified. In a statement provided to CNET, Facebook claims that this complaint is without merit and that the company will defend itself “vigorously.”